In an unexpected turn of events, Drake’s Blue Green Red release by Republic Records did not get permission to interpolate Tiger’s “When” produced by Steely and Clevie according to Danny Pepperseed.
World Music Views first reported that the track which was part of the Toronto rapper’s 100gigs leaks, included video content and two other songs: “Its Up” featuring Young Thug and 21 Savage and Housekeeping Knows featuring Latto. The set was released on Friday August 10 by Drake’s label after an internet scrub of the leaks.
However, Pepperseed, manager of the legendary production duo Steely and Clevie, said up to now he has not given permission for the streaming platform release of the song which contains the When interpolation.
“We got a request on Friday, but it makes things totally different now that it’s released,” Pepperseed told World Music Views after seeing our report. “Typically, when you get the request, you are being asked to make a quick decision to know the same day,” he added.
“Blue Green Red” debuted at #188 on the daily Global Spotify Chart, with 1,259,268 streams on August 10. It is Drake’s 232nd song to appear on the Global Chart.
Pepperseed, explained that it is common practice for artists to sign a non-disclosure agreement when handling such requests. “Mostly those kinds of artists ask you to sign a non-disclosure,” he noted saying no such agreement was put out in place.
Steely and Clevie as well as Tiger now have the upper hand in negotiations and a there is legal basis for lawsuit if the matter is not settled in their favor he said. “I got a copy of the track Saturday morning. They said they’re not gonna send a copy; we’re gonna call you on Drake’s people and make a decision based on that,” Pepperseed recounted. “Then they say, ‘What the heck, we’re gonna send you the track.'”
Steely and Clevie are currently in another legal battle with several reggaeton artists, major record labels and publishers for copyright infringement on their 1989 “Fish Market” riddim. Danny said this may present another situation on the hands of Universal Records, the label under which Drake is signed.
“When it’s released and out there, we can sue them,” he stated. Adding, “Our terms are now gonna be different. It’s the same thing Buju was talking about.”
Pepperseed referenced Buju Banton’s recent comments on Drink Champs where he said within the music industry, particularly concerning the rise of Afrobeats and reggaeton there is a lot of appropriation and stealing of intellectual property. “Buju mentioned Afrobeats and reggaeton as well,” he said.
Addressing the legal aspects, Pepperseed said his next steps will be to check with he publisher who called him about he song and he is willing to resolve the issue outside of court. “We’re gonna work it out and check with our publisher first. It came through a sample clearance agency; one of those agencies reached out to the publisher, and the publisher reached out to us.”
“They know they have infringed, so this gets handled with the legal department of the publishers involved,” Pepperseed said. “They are likely not to contest it because the damage has already been done.” I have been with similar clients from both sides and once you do not clear before release you have your back against the wall.”
Tiger who rise to fame in the late 80s and early 1990s, is signed to Dubplate and Greensleeves Publishing, which is managed by producer Gussie Clarke. “Gussie is signed to Universal, which they’re probably gonna be lenient,” Pepperseed mentioned.
Greensleeves Publishing was already contacted by Drake’s representatives according to Danny.
When World Music Views contacted Tiger’s representatives, they informed us that the deejay has “slowed down” since suffering a stroke in 2021 at age 61. They also mentioned that Tiger was yet to be contacted by his publishers and was the first made aware of the interpolation of “When” on Drake’s “Blue Green Red” by WMV.
